Sony heads back to Japan with eReader line

eReaders are huge in the US today and they are popular around the world. Sony eReaders have been on the market much longer than popular devices like the Kindle and Nook have, but early on Sony eReaders didn't catch the eye of users in Japan. Back in 2007, both Sony and Panasonic pulled out of the eReader market in Japan. Despite the market not being enough for them in their home countries, Sony has been selling its eReaders in the US for a long time now.

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Sony is now set to go back to its home market with its eReaders. Sony will offer a 5-inch screen eReader in Japan starting on December 10 for 20,000 yen or $240. A 6-inch screen version of the reader will be offered for 25,000 yen. Reuters reports lack of content was the main reason the Sony readers failed originally. The popularity of eReader rivals and tablets like the iPad has to be another factor pushing Sony back to its home market.

Sony has big plans for its Japanese eReader re-launch too. It plans to sell 300,000 readers in the first year back on the market and grab up 50% of the Japanese market by 2012. Japan now has about 1.2 million titles in its Reader Store in America that presumably would be available in Japan along with Japanese language titles.